Moving to Sydney, Australia after living overseas for more than two years? Very hard. I lived in Greece for 3 months, travelled around Europe as much as my wallet would possibly allow me, and then settled in London for 20 months, just shy of two years. All that time away and experiencing various locations does change your perception of a country, and I’ve come to realise that Australia probably is “home”. I’m so relieved to be back with my friends and family and understanding the streets and suburbs.
Things I like about moving back home:
At first, I really had no desire to come back to Australia, but after years away in such a fast-paced and merciless city, I came to have a great appreciation for the quality of life in Australia. I love London because it is so incredibly diverse and is pretty non-judgemental and comfortable with all people in regards to their identities and cultures. I know these subcultures exist in Australia and everywhere else in the world, but there isn’t the same openness and acceptance across the board, especially not for younger people. I am slightly disappointed by the lack of culture and history in Australia compared with other European and Asian countries. Besides Australian Indigenous culture, there’s really not that much else to explore with Australia being such a young country. Supported by immigration of people from more than 200 countries since the end of World War II, the population increased to more than 24 million by 2016, and sustains the world’s 12th largest national economy. However, coming back home, the population and culture in Sydney seems so small and it doesn’t feel as dynamic as other cities. However, a country just needs time to build more history and culture, and luckily Australia is incredibly diverse.
Some other things I dislike about coming home:
Bondi icebergs
OVERALL: I still have mixed feelings about moving home. Getting settled into a new job and taking the exhaustion and stress from London back home. I have not been feeling myself lately. This is also a reason as to why I haven’t been putting much work and creativity into my website. My 1-2 articles per week has turned into approximately 1 per month, because I haven’t been feeling well enough to write and create content. I was pretty stressed leaving London and rushing to get myself organised while I was spending time in Italy, then plunged myself into the Australian workforce pretty quickly because I was completely broke. I am slowly adjusting to the new lifestyle changes and slowly finding more motivation again. If you’re reading this, thank you so much.
xx
